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State: And then there was one

FORT WAYNE — Eleven Whitley County wrestlers qualified for the Fort Wayne Semi-State tournament, and for all but one of them, the opportunity to advance to the State Finals at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse came to an end.Churubusco senior Jason Nicodemus took third place in the 220-pound weight class to advance to next weekends’ state finals.In a semifinal that matched two unbeaten wrestlers, Kokomo junior Fletcher Miller (47-0) scored an early takedown and went on to score a pinfall win over Nicodemus (27-0) in 1:47. Miller went on to take the weight-class championship, while Nicodemus faced Carroll’s Brad Sadilek in the third-place match. After taking a 5-1 lead at the end of the second period, Nicodemus went on to post a 10-1 win to take third place.For another Churubusco wrestler, the opportunity ended earlier in the week during practice when senior wrestler Brian Richardson broke his ankle, ending his hopes for a state finals appearance. Chase Downing and Brandon Wormcastle both fell in the first round, with Wormcstle losing to Norwell’s Grahm Smith by fall, and Downing dropping a 10-2 decision to fourth-place finisher Brett Martz from Fairfield at 126 pounds.Whitko’s Greg Newman took 6th place at 113 pounds. Lane Wolf fell in the first round of the 120-pound competition to Fairfield’s Forrest Glogouski by pin in 3:55. Senior Colton LeTourneau lost by pinfall to eventual 132-pound weight class champion Dalton Bayslinger of Yorktown in the first round.The Wildcats’ Kuyler Bailey ran into weight-class champion Eli Walker of Yorktown in the opening round and fell by pin in 1:38.Columbia City advanced two of its three qualifiers out of the first round, with the third losing in the last seconds. Freshman Hunter Langeloh faced 33-4 Blake Glogouski of Fairfield in the quarterfinals and fell by pinfall late in the first period. Langeloh lost to Scotty Huff from Goshen in the consolation round.In the quarterfinals, senior Alan Trabert went up against Rhett Heistand. The Yorktown junior and eventual weight-class winner scored a 15-0 technical fall in the third period, sending Trabert to the consolation round. Trabert lost 9-3 to Peru’s Kaleb Hammerley to end his season.Russell Hazelet, fell in the opening round to eventual fourth-place finisher Myron Howard of Yorktown 5-4.For a more in-depth look at this story, see the Feb. 11 issue of The Post and Mail. Don't have a subscription? Call (260) 244-5153 or subscribe to our e-edition. For breaking news, sports updates and additional coverage, bookmark the homepage and find us on facebook.